Real Lamb Foot – E. Watts Sheffield

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LongBlade
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Real Lamb Foot – E. Watts Sheffield

Post by LongBlade »

Joe motivated me after his lovely Lamb Foot knives to post mine that I picked up well over a year ago but forgot about…

Real Lamb Foot – E Watts Sheffield (3 & 1/2") – Jigged bone and indeed a lighter shade of bone with hammered pins; Etched “Real Lamb Foot” and blade is classic with slope at spine and importantly non-parallel cutting edge and spine – actually tapered blade as you move from tang to tip as it should be on the Lamb Foot blade; Classic swayback style handle, rat tail bolster - all carbon steel/iron including liners - – Most likely pre-1890 given the lack of England on the stamp (though perhaps it was not made for export where England was not a necessary mark after 1890). However it is important to note that it appears Real Lamb Foot knives did not come into existence with that terminology until the 1880s – 1890s. My guess is this knife is late 1800s – early 1900s.

This one is somewhat of a mystery maker from Sheffield as little info exists for E. Watts of Sheffield – the only Watts listed in Tweedale’s book is a John Watts and other sources indicate there was a Bingham & Watts who were Edge Tool Manufacturers of Norton, Woodseats (a suburb of Sheffield) – not sure the latter would be the maker… the only info found was an Edward Watt in London but only an ad for a patent on a “Burnishing Glove” in Saddlery and Harness (Vol 8, June 1898) at the address of 89 Edgware Rd, London, W. … Possible he was a merchant in London with his knives still made in Sheffield or was a small Sheffield maker not noted in the references… Most of this info was that found by the gentleman from which I had picked up this knife and I am not finding anything else at all…. Thanks for looking!
Closed Mark Side DSCN6740.JPG
Closed Pile Side DSCN6752.JPG
Blade Open DSCN6770.JPG
Tang Stamp DSCN6711.JPG
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Re: Real Lamb Foot – E. Watts Sheffield

Post by jerryd6818 »

Wow! All these years and the condition is still that good. What a find.
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Re: Real Lamb Foot – E. Watts Sheffield

Post by bestgear »

Lee - I would call that an UnReal Lambs Foot - Yowser!
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Re: Real Lamb Foot – E. Watts Sheffield

Post by LongBlade »

Thanks Jerry and Tom ::tu:: ::tu:: ... Sometimes you get lucky Jerry - still hard snapping, tight and the springs are probably not too much different than when it was made... Nothing like old Sheffield quality for the most part but even the bone is flawless in terms of damage :)
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Re: Real Lamb Foot – E. Watts Sheffield

Post by FRJ »

Very nice old knife there, Lee. And nice history.
I have a nautical knife or two by John Watts which is a fairly common Sheffield maker.
My dads name was Erwin Watts so for me it's nice to see the E. Watts on such a nice knife.

"However it is important to note that it appears Real Lamb Foot knives did not come into existence with that terminology
until the 1880s – 1890s. My guess is this knife is late 1800s – early 1900s."

Does this mean that this design pattern was used for some time with out the Real Lamb Foot designation?
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Re: Real Lamb Foot – E. Watts Sheffield

Post by LongBlade »

Thanks Joe ::tu:: ::tu:: ... Too cool that was the initial of your Dad's first name along with last name!!

Great question Joe on when the blade was originated in design and when was it given the name Lamb Foot... there has been a lot of discussion over on BF with some dedicated threads on the knife and history. In short while the Lamb Foot design may have been made much earlier, old catalog sources and other documentation has not yet revealed the name Lamb Foot any earlier than +/- 1890… To me it is 2 different questions – one question is when the blade was designed and the second is when was did it appear in print as a Lamb Foot blade… I do think what is obvious is that for the most part the un-parallel and tapered nature of the spine and cutting edge is more apparent on the Real Lamb Foot knives though importantly there are exceptions depending upon the maker… I think that is where it stands and no doubt from the early 1800s there were many blades that were similar but lacked some aspects of the Real Lamb Foot blades and depending upon the question one can have differing views and opinions. Hope that helps... somewhat :D
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Re: Real Lamb Foot – E. Watts Sheffield

Post by FRJ »

Thanks, Lee.
So "perhaps" the blade evolved to a shape similar to a lamb foot and was named as such ..............

It makes me think the knife handle, with the wonderful symmetry of the sway back, and that elegant blade
came early on from the old Sheffield makers. They seem to go hand in hand, so to speak. That is, the blade and the handle.
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Re: Real Lamb Foot – E. Watts Sheffield

Post by treefarmer »

What a great looking old knife! ::tu::
Let me say there doesn't appear to be a whole lot of difference in the shape of a lambs foot, a sheep foot and a Wharncliff blade. The Wharncliffe's slope to the point seems to begin further back on the spine of the blade, other than that what are the differences or advantages of one over the other or is it just a name used during a certain era by different knife makers? ::shrug::
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Re: Real Lamb Foot – E. Watts Sheffield

Post by Dinadan »

That is a beauty, Lee! Like others said, amazing condition for the age. I appreciate the history, too. I assume that the name sheepsfoot must have already been in use, and that lambs foot refers to a modified sheepsfoot? The blades are too similar and the names too similar not to be related.
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Re: Real Lamb Foot – E. Watts Sheffield

Post by LongBlade »

Thanks Treefarmer and Mel ::tu:: ::tu:: … the old original Lamb Foot knives are not an easy pattern to find - (I got lucky and more so as you noted in reference to the condition of this example).. many different makers in the late 1800s early 1900s etched their knives Real Lamb Foot though nobody knows which maker was the origin of that etch, and even though the pattern is still made today it still seems to be predominately British… A Wright & Son LTD still makes a fair amount of them and for some reason Lamb Foot knives appear to be more popular across the pond…

I often struggled at the beginning with the difference between a Sheeps Foot and a Lambs Foot blade while the Wharncliffe is easier to depict from those two others due to the curve of the spine starting farther back towards the tang which I think you noted as well Treefarmer… I also always had the impression the Sheep Foot blade compared to the Lamb Foot had a much steeper slope at the spine at the tip and for the most part I believe that is true. It becomes less clear when I see more modern Lamb Foot blades having a steep straight angle on the spine towards the tip – however if one really starts to explore the old Sheep Foot blades from the 1800s (apparently the Sheep Foot blade as a term was coined much earlier than the Lamb Foot and there is an example in Smith’s Key from 1816 in the Pruners Category where the knife was described in writing as a Sheep Foot)… if one really starts to search through examples of old knives from the 1800s one sees many patterns that I would term a Lambs Foot though many refer to them as Sheep Foot blades or as Peach Pruning blades (the latter are just very similar to me as a Lamb Foot as you both allude to Treefarmer and Mel)… No doubt not a lot of clarity – probably because cutlers in the 1800s were more concerned about making good tools for a purpose and not ever thinking that folks like us would ever be so obsessed with any of the related details in terms of terminology or names ::nod:: :D

However more directly to the question of the difference between the two blades- the difference in my opinion and as I have now learned became more apparent in the later 1800s when knives were etched “Real Lamb Foot” – if you look at the knife I posted and at the Lamb Foot knives that Joe (FRJ) posted in the thread just below entitled “Herbert Robinson, Sheffield” you see the spine and cutting edge are not parallel as one moves from the tang to the tip (in fact some call them a tapered blade from tang to tip) and the handles have that swayback feature - that is in direct contrast to all Sheep Foot blades which no doubt have parallel spines and cutting edges - personally I think all Sheep Foot blades having a more steep slope at the tip (despite some Lamb Foot blades being close but not the majority of them)… funny thing is for a long time those Real Lamb Foot blades looked to me like someone did not sharpen them correctly and I never realized until doing some more background research (and that was very recent) that they were technically made that way with a tapered blade…

But than the question is why did they taper them and for what purpose?? I understand from a few folks that it may give better control towards the cutting edge of the tip which allows it to have more bite and when you couple that to the swayback feature of the handle which nestles in your palm as a tool that one could do more intricate cuts compared to a Sheep Foot –for example getting finer cuts to shape wood as one example…

Maybe too much info but hope this helps as a perspective between Lamb Foot and Sheep Foot blades as I have been learning :)
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Re: Real Lamb Foot – E. Watts Sheffield

Post by LongBlade »

Dinadan wrote:That is a beauty, Lee! Like others said, amazing condition for the age. I appreciate the history, too. I assume that the name sheepsfoot must have already been in use, and that lambs foot refers to a modified sheepsfoot? The blades are too similar and the names too similar not to be related.
Sorry Mel - To your point which is a good one - I do think they are related in a few ways and most likely the Lamb Foot evolved from the Sheep Foot which is just my opinion which seems to be yours as well - perhaps not only in blade design in general terms but no doubt based on the name... If not for the tapered blade of the Real Lamb Foot I would say it was developed many years before but just didn't have the name until some maker decided to call it a Lamb Foot based on the similarity to the Sheep Foot... Truth is some say the Lamb Foot resembles a lamb hoof while a Sheep Foot blade resembles a sheep hoof - don't really know as I never really looked at the hooves of those guys very closely :lol: Others say they were used to trim the hooves of those animals ... maybe ::shrug:: ... all interesting to me as well as you noted in terms of the history ::tu::
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Re: Real Lamb Foot – E. Watts Sheffield

Post by DM11 »

Wow great score.! That is a beauty. Intertesting history also.. 8) ::tu::
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Re: Real Lamb Foot – E. Watts Sheffield

Post by LongBlade »

Thanks DM11 ::tu::
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